Advancing a step , Zeltor tries to land another volley on the bandits .
But his aim is not the best.
Maybe we can order the guards to tie them up? That way if we are still in battle when they come to they can't harm us.
"Tie them up!"
Raseri orders the guards as she steps over the downed bandits and closer to one of the bandits near Tall Jack. She brings her sword in low before snapping it up and over the man's guard, trying to down him as quickly as possible.
"Maybe ya shoulda got a couple o' real swords instead o' those butterknives fer yar men here, eh?"
An obviously Ulfen accent seeps into the woman's voice. She may go down, but she was going to make them pay dearly for that feat.
At the command to tie them up, Molasbar lowers his axe a little. That makes sense. If I start to slay them now, the others certainly won’t surrender, no matter how it goes. Instead, he opts for a bold strategy. Skirting around the tent, he acts as though he is going to engage one bandit with his axe, only to quickly cast a spell targeting all that remain!
Move to E6 (via H6, G6 and F5 to avoid an AoO from the bandit at E7). Cast defensively Burning Hands, targeting E7, DEF8, DEF9. DC 17 concentration
Alas, in his effort to be cagey about the spell, he fails to pull of the incantation correctly and nothing whatsoever happens.
Initiative: Olofire | Molasbar | Zeltor | Zahar & Kasuri | Raseri | Ninivic | Guards | Bandits
Status
Bandit (Yellow) - Misfortune (1 round); unconscious, blinded, stunned (5 rounds); blinded, stunned (4 rounds); stunned (1 round).
Bandit (Pink) - 9 damage; misfortune (1 round).
Bandit (Cyan) - 3 damage.Orc (Red) - DEAD!
Orc (Orange) - DEAD!
Orc (Green) - Unconscious, blinded, stunned (5 rounds); blinded, stunned (4 rounds); stunned (1 round).
Orc (Blue) - DEAD!Tall Jack - 2 damage.
Raseri - 4 strain, 20* injury (see below)
Kasuri - 2 strain.
Zahar - 4 strain.
Valeria - 3 strain.OOC
Okay, I have some bad news - I just rolled a near-max-damage critical hit on Raseri. The damage is enough to put her at -14, which kills her. (Check out the rolls in the GM spoiler! Yowza!)Rappan Athuk is deadly, etc., so normally I'd prefer to let the dice fall where they will... that said, I hate losing PCs to a random crit like this... so I would be willing to fudge the dice a little and leave her at -12 and dying, meaning she'd still die if someone doesn't get a heal off on her next round, but is at least remotely recoverable.
Raseri, I'd like to leave this to you to decide on!
Olo moves forward, laughing and cackling in a terrifying display, before setting his eyes upon Tall Jack... finally in range. Soon, Jack. Soon. Molasbar tries to burninate the bandits, but his attempts to do so surreptitiously cause him to gesticulate a couple of things upside-down and it all goes pear-shaped from there on in. Zeltor's aim goes wide on one side of the room, while Kasuri bounds forward to chow down on another bandit, ripping a chunk out of her leather armor. Zahar tries to land a smack-down on one of the bandits, to little effect, so Raseri comes down to show him the ropes by completely eviscerating one of the bandits where he stands. Murderation is her name! Ninivic moves forward around the tent as he reloads his rifle, and the guards move to follow Raseri's orders in apprehending up the colour-sprayed bandits. "He's dead, sir!" one of them calls out; it seems that one of the orcs have bled out on the floor.
The remaining bandits seem nervous, but Jack roars a command: "Don't give up! Ain't nothing worth living for here! Die fighting, not on the floor of a cell!" Somehow, the cry seems to have invigorated his men; one surely would have cut a line into Molasbar's belly if not for Olofire's curse, while Zahar finds himself experiencing the uncomfortable feeling of a shortsword poking into (but, thankfully, not through) his thick leather armor .
Raseri, however, is not so lucky.
Tall Jack shoulders his way past his lackeys to face the haughty woman. With a gutteral roar of anger, he brings his falchion to bear upon her--and slices right through her chain armor into her chest. The wound cuts viciously and deeply, and Raseri barely has time to choke up a mouthful of blood before she hits the ground with a loud and heavy thunk. The room is shocked into silence for a moment before the half-orc breaks the silence with a hooting, mocking laughter.
"That sharp enough for you, sweetheart?!"
Taking but a single step forward , Zeltor unleashes another barrage at the closest enemy
He growls at Tall Jack, as his eyes try to look for signs of life in Raseri - "You will die for that..."
Olo watches Raseri crumple to the ground as blood begins to pool around her. His cackling is broken by a gasp and though he continue to give a burbling giggle it is devoid of any glee or triumph.
Molasbar is so focused on the battle and casting sophisticated spells that he barely registers Raseri going down. Instead, his mind calculates distances, geometry and spacial relationships even as his fingers dip into a pouch and withdraw a pinch of colored sand.
Cast Defensively DC 17
He steps to E6 and casts Color Spray defensively using his bonded object. Targeting squares E7, DEF 8 and DEF 9. That should encompass the remaining bandits (including Jack) but no allies. DC 16 will save.
She saw the blade coming in, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing fear on her face. Instead her eyes flared with cold, blue light as she braced for the blow. Chain split and cloth parted. Her flesh burned as Tall Jack's blade bit deep.
Then she was among the stars. Flitting on silver wings. She saw people she had heard of in her clan's songs and tales, people she had never met, and two people she had not seen in a long time. Joy brought a smile to her face as she raced towards her parents.
The light in her eyes went out as blood stained her clothing and hair. Raseri Whitescale joined legions of her kin in death at the end of Tall Jack's blade.
Zahar is taken aback by the death of one of his new companions. He knew the risks of coming to this place all too well, but to see it before one's very eyes was sobering, indeed. He didn't have time to grieve. He knew that this bloodshed could only truly end with the death of Tall Jack.
Stranding over the body of his fallen comrade, his anger causes the wild swing of his club to be easily avoided, but Jack would find that Zahar's true strength lies not in his hand-to-hand abilities, but in the ferocity of his bonded companion as she pounced upon the bastard from behind.
Ninivic shakes his head seeing Raseri drop under the falchion of Tall Jack. Seen too many good men and women go down like that. At least she fell with her sword in hand instead of being dragged off to some giant serpent. "Guards, finish those bandits that are down! We can't have them getting back up." Ninivic circles the melee , raises his pistol, and fires at one of the remaining bandits , then quickly reloads.
Initiative: Olofire | Molasbar | Zeltor | Zahar & Kasuri | Ninivic | Guards | Bandits
Status
Bandit (Yellow) - DEAD!
Bandit (Pink) - DEAD!
Bandit (Cyan) - DEAD!
Bandit (Purple) - 6 damage.Orc (Red) - DEAD!
Orc (Orange) - DEAD!
Orc (Green) - DEAD!
Orc (Blue) - DEAD!Tall Jack - 16 damage.
Raseri - DEAD! :(
Kasuri - 2 strain.
Zahar - 4 strain.
Valeria - 3 strain.OOC
For some reason I can't open Photoshop at the moment, so I'm unable to edit the map. I will try and get that fixed ASAP.@Zahar, I'd probably require you to make a Handle Animal check to perform the Flank trick to get Kasuri to do what you did in your post. Flank is a new trick from the Animal Archive that basically spells out that animals don't have the intelligence to seek flanking positions unless you specifically order them to. That said, since the flank wouldn't actually affect whether your three attacks hit or not, and since you had a move action 'spare' this round anyway, I'll let it be. Just be aware that Kasuri isn't mind-linked to you and that she's an animal with 2 Int--her tactics should reflect that.
Olofire's shock at seeing Raseri dropped apparently impacted upon the efficacy of his curse of misfortune; Jack appears completely unaffected by the nightmares the witch tries to impress upon him. Molasbar's next spell goes a little better than his last, but even this one only manages to send one of the bandits into a comatose state. Zeltor shoots a pair of arrows the way of Jack's last standing lackey, with one penetrating deep into his armored shoulder and the other flying harmlessly overhead.
Zahar and Kasuri move into position to lay the pain down on Jack. The druid does not find purchase with his cudgel, but his animal companion rips and tears at the half-orc's armor from behind. Ninivic stalks around the outside of the fracas and fires his pistol at the nearest bandit, but his shot misses by a couple of inches. Following Ninivic's orders, the guards begin to coup de grace the colour sprayed enemies, using their swords to quickly pierce through the heart and let death come quickly.
Jack, surrounded on both sides, spits in Zahar's face as his last remaining man ducks under Kasuri's tearing claws to flank the cat from behind. Despite their advantageous position, neither men can land a blow on the nimble kitty. She is quite threatening, after all...
Olofire sees the enraged orc shrugging off magic and physical assault and realizes he would be wise to move further away. He tries to decide which route to take and then decides that incapacitating him, even briefly, would be of best benefit to his companions.
Zeltor takes yet another step forward , this time unleashing his attacks at Tall Jack.
"It ends now..."
Molasbar takes a step back . He breaks off a shard of his arcane protection and flings it at Jack. It spirals and twists along the way, but strikes true.
Force Missile
Initiative: Olofire | Molasbar | Zeltor | Zahar & Kasuri | Ninivic | Guards | Bandits
Current Map - not bothering to update it at this point, combat is more or less over.
Status
Bandit (Yellow) - DEAD!
Bandit (Pink) - DEAD!
Bandit (Cyan) - DEAD!
Bandit (Purple) - 9 damage.Orc (Red) - DEAD!
Orc (Orange) - DEAD!
Orc (Green) - DEAD!
Orc (Blue) - DEAD!Tall Jack - 29 damage.
Raseri - DEAD! :(
Kasuri - 2 strain.
Zahar - 4 strain.
Valeria - 3 strain.OOC
Ninivic... technically misfires... LOL... but because I'm kind I'll ignore that.Jack technically gets 1 more round thanks to orc ferocity but I'm going to assume that you guys can put him down next round, so I won't bother continuing this in round-by-round format. Enjoy descriptively murdering Jack if you like!
Olo mutters a few arcane syllables in an alien tongue, and all of a sudden the half-orc's eyes glaze over as if he is in a comatose state but with his eyes open, seeing nothing but still moving. Molasbar takes that as an opportunity to fire a force missile right in his back, although Jack doesn't react at all to the sensation. Zeltor follows up with another flurry of arrows, one of which lodges itself into the bandit leader's shoulder armor and the other which accidentally hits his blade and snaps in two.
Kasuri lashes out, but Tall Jack's final lackey grabs her tail and interrupts her mid-attack; the jaguar yowls and hisses in response, doing no harm to the half-orc. Zahar tries to club the dazed Jack over the head, but sheer luck (or unluck, really) causes the half-orc to suddenly and almost instinctively sway out of the way of the attack. Ninivic fires a round at Jack, but the bullet passes through cloth only. Your three hired guards drop their bows and join the fracas with blades. One of them manages to land a nasty attack, stabbing Jack through the chest; the half-orc grunts in pain, even in his dazed state.
Seeing the attack land, the final bandit's allegiance to his former leader finally falls, and he bolts to the right side of the room. Kasuri snaps at his ankles, but the nimble bandit is too quick for her to drag down. He hits a hidden switch in the wall, causing a secret stone door to rumble open, before rushing through it into the near darkness beyond.
Zahar and Kasuri seem too distracted by the recently ended combat and their downed companion to notice anything out of the ordinary. They leave the execution of Jack to the others. The druid kneels next to the crumpled body of the Ulfen girl and determines that she is, in fact, gone. With a gentle sweep of his hand, he closes her eyes. "I think it would be best if we secure the area and then give her remains the proper respect. We owe her that much."
Perception
When the room goes still, the intense focus fades from Molasbar's eyes and the emotional impact of everything hits him.
The half-orc finds a quiet corner of the room and retches up the contents of his stomach. And then some. A quick presdigitation spell makes him presentable again before he joins the others in assessing the aftermath.
Olo comes out of his own daze and kneels next to Raseri, on the other side of Zahar. His hand reaches out and he feels her body already cooling. Without saying a word he stands up and takes a quick look around at his companions to see if they are in need of healing. He notices scrapes and dents in armor but no serious damage.
He cocks his head to the side as he moves towards the door the bandit went through,"There is another door he went through beyond this one and then he jumped over something - a trap of some kind? There is an odd groaning coming from the room." He speaks without emotion, almost as if none of the carnage in the room affects him.
Bandits each have studded leather armor, a shortsword, a composite (+1) shortbow, and arrows.
Orcs each have studded leather armor and a falchion.
Tall Jack has a chain shirt, a falchion, a dagger, a shortbow with 40 arrows, and sp and cp in his pants pocket.
If you search the barrels to the north of the room, you find that for the most part they are filled with general living supplies for the bandits, but there is a collection of gold crowns in a hessian sack that totals 175 gp stashed away in one.
"Before we chase down that lone bandit, I think we should head back to Zelkor's Ferry. We can turn in the fallen bandits for a reward and allow these good members of the town guard to return home."
With a pause that indicates that he's been avoiding the subject, he adds "We should see to it that Raseri is buried there. We wouldn't want to do that here and risk her remains falling under the sway of Orcus, or one of his minions."
So, Molasbar is proposing we package everything and everyone up and head straight back to town.
Zeltor can see into the room beyond thanks to his fiendish heritage. The room is shaped something like an arrow head, and in the centre of the room is a carved stone sarcophagus.
Crouching down around the corner, Zeltor whispers back to the others - "Should we perhaps check this additional one before we leave..?"
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
"I think the room will still be here when we get back. If that bandit has any sense, he won't be."
With that, Zahar and his companion join the others in gathering up whatever else is needed from this room. He assists in carrying Raseri's body as well.
"Careful, Zeltor. I heard strange moans coming from the room." Olo stands behind the monk seeing very little of what is in the room for a moment he considers bringing forth a light but decides against it - best not to agitate the inhabitants of the room.
"Yeah, I agree with those who think we should head back. We can check that room out more thoroughly when we return. Olo isn't hearing things. There is definitely groaning from multiple places in that room."
Zeltor nods at his companions' reasoning - "You are right, and Raseri, even though I had just met her, deserves to be taken away from this place. Let us show her our respects"
"Let's make sure that door is closed. At least at our end of the tunnel. When we return, we can make that our starting point."
Molasbar will take a few moments to note in his journal where the secret door is and the mechanism the fleeing bandit used to open it.
Then I think we are agreed. We are packing up everything we can find of value. We'll respectfully wrap Raseri's body in some canvas from one of the tents. As the goods are being packed and the fallen searched, Molasbar will use detect magic to hopefully take note of anything exotic.
Ready to head back to town, Ninivic helps to wrap up Raseri's body and to gather the bandits items.
As we exit the ruins, Molasbar will point out to Zeltor and Zahar some of what we have discovered on our way out. As we head back to town, he'll also be sure to point out where we encountered the gnolls, hoping they can help be vigilant for other threats along the way.
The survivors clear out any valuables before performing the rather unwelcome duties of removing Raseri's corpse from the blood-stained room. Your hired guards are happy to help with the task, offering their condolences and trying their best to provide the noble warrior with as much dignity as she can attain within death. Thankfully, whatever the source of the groaning from the secret room, it seems to not follow you as you leave the dungeon and make for Zelkor's Ferry once more.
The two guards remaining in the hamlet are at their posts on the wall when you arrive back in town, and they hurriedly clamber down the ladders to assist you upon spotting your unfortunate cargo. Their eyes are filled with sadness at the sight; one dashes off ahead of you to alert Captain Skorma and Odo Bristleback. Indeed, by the time you reach the inn the burly and gruff man is standing outside the door, accompanied by his petite wife and his serving staff, plus one curious new arrival to the town who looks on with striking golden eyes.
"It's a terrible shame to see this," Odo says quietly, shaking his head. "That bloody dungeon claims a lot of good men and women. But I don't suppose you've learned your lessons?" Judging by your expressions, he sighs, realising your intent to continue on. "Well, if this isn't warning enough, it's your own death certificates you're signing."
"Come, let's take her to the river. Burying isn't a good idea 'round these parts--most everything gets corrupted by some foul energy, probably from that damned hole in the ground. I don't want any zombies around town. So we usually put them on an old skiff and set out on the river."
Assuming no protests from the group, Odo heads down to the docks to organise a funereal boat. Amelia does her best in the meantime to clean up Raseri's blood-and-dirt-covered body, offering some dignity in death. Eventually she's loaded into a crematory skiff and pushed out into the waters, with only time left to do the duty of sending her body along the river and out to the sea.
Ninivic bows his head as the funereal boat is lit and sent down the river. May your gods bless you in the afterlife Raseri. It was good to do battle with you.
Knowledge Religion
Molasbar will try to recall some Ulfen traditions around funerals, and come up with a few appropriate words to say during the ceremony.
What starts as a few words expands into a verbatim recitation of Ulfen folk tale of warriors sacrificing themselves for the good of all, though the good is not seen at the time.
The stranger watches the proceedings with a wary eye. A cloak, travel stained and tattered covers her frame while the hood hides most of her face. Her eyes, though, seem to pierce into the soul. A bundle of polearms leans against the table next to her.